# Accident 19971125034949A: Beech E55, Gardner, KS, November 25, 1997

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 25, 1997, 13:09 local time
- Place: Gardner, KS
- Airport: Gardner Municipal Airport
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Touch And Go Landing
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 38.8096° N, 94.9199° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.8096&lon=-94.9199&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3914A, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N3914A) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Beech E-55 (registry code 1152732, https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-e-55) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-520 series (registry code 17032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BEECH E55
- Reported engine: CONT IO520C
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,013 total, 71 in this make and model, 39 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI98LA051](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI98LA051) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19971125034949A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON SECOND TOUCH AND GO LIFTED. RETRACTED GEAR TOO EARLY. SETTLED. PROPS HIT RUNWAY. ABORTED. HIT PARKED CESSNA 172. (.4)WHILE PRACTICING CROSSWIND TOUCH-AND-GO LANDINGS, THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN LEFT OF THE CENTERLINE NEAR THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD AND BOUNCED. THE PILOT ADDED AND REMOVED POWER TO LET THE AIRPLANE SETTLE TO THE RUNWAY. THE LANDING GEAR RETRACTED DURING THIS PERIOD, AND THE LEFT PROPELLER STRUCK THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT ADDED FULL POWER AND ROTATED, AT WHICH TIME, THE RIGHT PROPELLER CONTACTED THE RUNWAY. WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING ROUGH, THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN, SLID OFF THE RUNWAY, AND CONTACTED A PARKED AIRPLANE. THE PILOT REPORTED HE DID NOT TOUCH THE LANDING GEAR SELECTOR DURING THE LANDING, NOR DID HE HEAR A WARNING HORN. POSTACCIDENT INSPECTION OF THE LANDING GEAR SYSTEM REVEALED THAT IT, ALONG WITH THE GEAR WARNING SYSTEM, FUNCTIONED NORMALLY.                                                             (-23)ON SECOND LANDING OF A PLANNED SERIES OF TOUCH AND GOES, TOW PILOT-RATED WITNESSES STATED THAT THE AIRPLANE LOFTED OFF FOLLOWED BY AN INSTANTANEOUS RETRACTION OF THE LANDING GEAR.  THE AIPLANE SETTLED ONTO THE RUNWAY, ST                                  RIKING BOTH PROPELLERS AND DETECTING A PRONOUNCED RIGHT YAW, THE PILOT CLOSED THE THROTTLES AND LANDED ONT HE GRASS ALONGSIDE THE RUNWAY. THE RIGHT WING STRUCK THE NOSEWHEEL OF A PARKED CE-172 AS THE AIRPLANE SKIDDED TO A HALT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI98LA051](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI98LA051), Nov 25, 1997: Beech E55 (N3914A), Gardner, KS, substantial damage. Probable cause: the inadvertant landing gear retraction, which occurred due to undetermined reason(s).

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.